Hiding America’s Recent History

from Consortium News:

Hiding America’s Recent HistoryAugust 1, 2012

Between the shallowness of even the “serious” mainstream news media and the sophistication of political spin, it is no wonder the U.S. public is so thoroughly uninformed and misinformed, observes Danny Schechter.

By Danny Schechter

Some years ago, I meet a major in American intelligence, a member of the “Red Cell Unit.” As he explained it to me, his unit was actually charged with assessing other spy shops by offering other views, critiquing intelligence estimates and perhaps even evaluating security systems like the specialists who test airport systems by probing for their soft spots and vulnerabilities, and seeing if they can beat them.

This officer had been sent as one more gung-ho officer into the war in Iraq only to return, like many, if not disillusioned, aware that all was not working well. He was actually involved in guarding so-called HVT’s (imprisoned High Value Targets) including Saddam Hussein himself. The officer came to respect Hussein for his intelligence before his untimely demise with a rope around his neck. Saddam’s many crimes and errors were often dwarfed by our own.

The United States today has a vast intelligence apparatus on the ground, in the sky and even in space. Technically, it puts to shame the old Soviet Union’s ability to monitor what people are doing and saying. The U.S. system sucks up millions of terabytes of data daily.

But, that doesn’t mean that what is reported is understood. The analysts seek to make sense of it, but the policy- makers are often so locked into templates of action and pre-formulated strategies that insure the input doesn’t lead to course corrections or changes in direction. The policy-makers operate with a kind of intellectual “locked-in” disease that freezes out new ideas. ............(more)

1. Du rec. Nt

2. Yeah, K&R, well done. Nails it.

Having a big pile of data doesn't mean squat by itself. It's like having a big pile of dirt in your yard. If you want the data to tell you something useful about the real world, you have to be open to what it says, and do the work to structure it meaningfully. Inside the defense bidness, as the engineers say, bad news suffers high impedance in flowing upwards. You can lose your job, and fast, for criticizing the current dogmas, whatever they are.

3. There wasn't a lot of substance

to that article. It's sort of like lighting a candle in a coal mine. Schecter raises a troubling issue, but doesn't tell us much we don't already know,or at least suspect. We're someplace deep and dark, with no clew to lead us out. We're being played, and the people doing the manipulating believe their own lies and propaganda. Quelle surprise.